Story of Tellana Ravenfire
by Gulefritz
Summary: Tellana Ravenfire has served the sentinels for more than a hundred year, but after the battle of Mount Hyjal, has she decided to become one of the huntress's. What enemies will she face as a huntress in the sentinel army?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone.  
My name is Gulefritz and I am bringing you the story of Tellana Ravenfire, a sentinel who fought during the Battle of Mount Hyjal and is about to receive her Nightsaber. We'll follow her story as we progress through WoW's story.**

 **Hope you'll like it.**

Today was the most important day for Tellana Ravenfire. Today was the day she would officially become a part of the huntress part of the sentinel army.

Tellana is a sentinel who has served for a thousand years. She had fought in the sentinel army, defending Kal'dorei lands for centuries, and one of her proudest moment where when she, alongside her sisters and brothers, fought against the undead forces besieging the World Tree atop Hyjal summit.

The Burning Legion's invasion had thinned their numbers when first the Warsong Clan invaded Ashenvale Forest where they killed Cenarius, followed by the undead invasion after the death of Mannoroth. She decided it was time she rose in the ranks, and for the last six years, she has trained and prepared to one day become one of the huntresses.

And today, that day had finally come. As of now, she was making her way from through Ashenvale forest, from Astranaar to the Silverwind Sentinel fortress of Silverwind Refuge, a fortress guarding the middle of Ashenvale Forest and the main road leading to Darkshore and Astranaar.

No more than two night's prior, the Nightsaber matriarch of Silverwind Refuge had given birth to a litter of six cubs. Four females and two males, and last night, she received a letter from the lead huntress of the Silverwind sentinels, that she had been hand-picked and one of these six cubs, would become her guardian.

And now she had come to meet her future guardian. She was on her way to meet her future companion.

Ever since the times of Asha'mane has Kal'dorei and Nightsaber formed a strong bond from early years to their final days. She defended them during the demon invasion, and they defender her children in times of struggle and great peril. Asha'mane leapt from tree to tree and the old ancient clawed and ripped several demons into chunks, and the Kal'dorei looked after her children, feed them and took them in as their own.

Each side was dependent on one another

And tonight, when she finally would make her way to Silverwind Refuge, would she be able to make her first and most important connection to the Nightsaber ancient, the first connection to one of her children.

Or so she hoped.

There were six cubs in the litter. All six of them had been chosen for military use as companion for the huntresses, both as mounts and hunting companions. But for these six cubs, seven sentinels had been picked as potential guardians of these young kittens.

If she got one cub, then she knew that one of the seven would not get one from this litter. Tellana did not know how the huntresses decided who got what cub, but she sure as hell was ready to figure it out.

Late in the evening, Tellana finally reaches the fortress. The sun went down an hour ago and Mother moon has taken its place, slowly moving across the star. The lack of sunlight did not affect the kal'dorei. They could see in the darkness just aswell as in the day. They could see the prowling predators, they could see the sleeping prey and they could see the demons or undeads, still lingering in the forests.

It was a skill they had adopted from Elune. She herself could see in the dark and now, her light allows them to see in the dark, just like her light helps the children of Asha'mane to hide in the moonlight.

Yes, it is true. The Nightsaber is known to be almost invisible during the night. During the full moon, a nightsaber could get so close their paws could rip open their opponents hide, without them noticing before the paw had hit and their teeth dug deep into its prey's flesh.

Tellana once saw that very thing happen to a human hunter once. The hunter had walked into their lands from the south, claiming to have been lost when on patrol. His story makes no sence, as he was clearly dressed to hunt animals, and the nearest human encampment lied in Dustwallow Marsh, which was on the other side of the great barrens.

Their suspicions about the human was right, as he one day knocked out the sentinels and made for the woods. They had searched his belongings and found the hides from several animals, a nightsaber included. The hunter knew he had provoked the wrath of the daughter's of Elune, but it would never be them to get their revenge on him.

It would be a daughter of Asha'mane.

She saw it with her own eyes. She had tracked him down and had raised her bow to fire the deadly shot, when she suddenly saw two yellow eyes in the moonlight. Those yellow eyes stared directly at her, and Tellana immediately knew what was going to happen. She lowered her bow and almost immediately she heard the scream of the human, as one of the biggest Nightsaber she had ever seen, pounced on the human.

The struggle was over before it began. Within mere seconds, the nightsaber had killed the hunter, having effectively destroyed his throat, and left him to die. Tellana looked after the big cat and followed it, immediately noticing that it was left alone, walking towards a den way bigger than a single cat, and it was then she had put the pieces together.

That hunter had killed that cat's mate. What most people do not know about nightsaber is, that they mate for life. When they find a mate, they stick to it forever. The only positive thing Tellana could imagine was that the nightsaber was at least in her older years and would likely have given birth to several litters, but it was still sad to know, this human had killed this cat's mate.

She watched over the nightsaber in the following days and the situation turned sadder. With time the old nightsaber stopped eating and barely left her den. Tellana saw as this mighty cat was reduced to bones and fur.

One night she decided to end this cat's suffering and bring it together with its mate. She came one day and raised her bow, aiming for the hearth of the great cat. Without hesitation she fired her arrow and killed the great cat immediately, giving the beast a quick and clean death.

She buried the remains of the Nightsaber in the den, allowing its final resting place to be where it used to live. She gave her blessings to the great cat, wishing for its spirit to join Elune and Asha'mane in the next life.

She knew not all humans were to be blamed for one human's action, but Tellana has never been able to look at humans with a positive view since then. She saw them as heroic and brave, as they had fought against overwhelming odds, at the battle of Mount Hyjal, but this. This was a backstab to her, and with it, Tellana Ravenfire lost all faith in humans and swore she would always protect the children of Asha'mane.

It was this event that had led her to this moment. She entered the fortress and did not have to wait long before someone talked to her. It was a strong and strict voice.

"Tellana Ravenfire I assume"

Tellana looked to the side and could only nod. Before her stood a huntress, armed with sword and full moon-steel armor, but what shocked her the most, was the Nightsaber right next to her. The cat was big with a very dark fur. She could make out some stripes in the fur, and fangs so great, the tip of the fangs were outside the mouth. She looked straight at the huntress when she spoke again.

"My name is Filenya Moonrunner. I am the commander of the Huntresses around here. You are to be transferred to my unit, put under my training, and follow my orders, if you are deemed worthy as a guardian for one of Asha'manes children, am I understood?"

Tellena nodded. Filenya simply returned the nod with a nod of her own, before motioning Tellana to follow.

"Follow me, the others are waiting by the stables, looking over the cubs. You are late, please, do not make a habit out of it"

Tellana opened her mouth to protest, to tell she was never late, but she was never able to, as she heard a growl from the huntress's nightsaber, seemingly prepared to defend its companions' words.

Tellana followed the commander until they reached a small stable next to the Refuge. By it were six other sentinels, all looking into the stable at something within, most likely the mother and her six cubs.

They reached the stable and she was right. Inside laid the Nightsaber matriarch on one side, while four of the six were feeding, while the two remaining, the two males, were playing, trying to catch each other's tails.

Tellana looked to her right as immediately Filenya spoke up for the entire group to hear.

"The Kal'dorei had domesticated the nightsaber for thousands of years. We rode them into battle during the War of the Ancients and before. We have found the strongest, fiercest and most loyal of the Nightsabers and breed them since then"

Filenya points at one of the small cubs, then to the mother.

"These are direct descendants of the ancient Asha'mane, the Nightsaber ancient who fought against the demons during the War of the Ancient. The ancient whose fangs has been missing for years without any of our druids finding any trace of their location. A shame, but we must carry on"

Filenya looks back at the group of huntress-aspirants, glaring at them.

"It takes great responsibility to become of the huntresses. You will raise these cats from kittenhood to adulthood. You will act as their mothers and guardians and with time, they will act as your guardian and companion. But note this sisters, if I see one kitten mistreated or in lack of care, you will be branded as a traitor of the Kal'dorei and have to answer for your crimes"

A loud growl can be heard from behind the sentinels. This growl come from the Nightsaber matriarch, growling at one of her cubs, as one of the males had missed his brother and landed on his mother's tail and by mistake bitten her tail instead.

"Fitting. Because it is not to me or the Priestess's you will answer to, but to her. And know, the wrath of a mother towards a person who harmed her child, is known to scare even the ugliest of demons. Now, any questions?"

Filenya looks over the group of sentinels, only six sentinels. Tellana raises her hand and receives a nod from Filenya.

"In the letter it said seven sentinels had been picked for potentially joining the huntresses, but I only spot six. Who and where is the seventh?"

Filenya sighed.

"We send out these letters well knowing not all of them will be answered. The seventh person, Anariala Rainmane was the seventh person. We send her the letter but no reply has been send back to us. We looked into the case and now we know that she has been send to Dustwallow Marsh. Seems there has been trouble concerning a human hunter in our lands, a human who originated from Theramore even"

Tellana nodded. She knew Anariala as she was the sentinel who helped her find the hunter, but she had not seen her since then. Seems I figured out why. Silence ensued, no more questions were asked and the huntress stepped aside, allowing the sentinels to enter the stable.

"Sisters, come and meet your kittens"

The sentinels walked into the den and immediately they noticed the change of the Nightsaber's attention. The two males stopped trying to catch eachother and looked at the six sentinels, while the four females also looked in their directions. The matriarch looked at the six before putting her head on the ground, she knew what was about to happen.

One of the males were the first to move forward towards the group, finding all six elves curious. Slowly he walked over to the nearest elf. The sentinel tried to move her hand to the cub, but it backfired, as the cub moved back and a growl could be heard from the matriarch.

The cub walked over to Tellana, finding interest in the elf. She smiled at the small kitten and knelt down in front of it. She reached out with her hand, not towards the cub, but half-way there, allowing him to sniff her hand, if he so decided.

The cub walked over to the hand and sniffed it, before giving it a lick with his rough tongue. Tellana could not stop but laugh as she felt the rough tongue run over her hand. It was exactly as she expected.

The cub put his forehead to her hand, and did this for some time, before rubbing it with his head, having clearly found a like to this sentinel. Tellana smiled again and moved her hand forward to pet the cub, an act that even made the small kitten purr.

"It seems you've found your kitten sister. But please remember, he is your guardian just like you are his. He is not a pet, you should be sure to remember this. Now, pick him up and take him with you to the sleeping quarter"

Tellana looked at the huntress with a curious look before looking over to the matriarch.

"Will she accept that? We are taking her cubs away from her afterall"

Filenya sighed as she herself looked at the matriarch.

"When we pick a nightsaber as mother, will we train them from start that they will be departed with their cubs. She does not make a close bond to them as she would in the wild, but the bond will remain. She knows, thanks to our druids, that her cubs serve Elune and Asha'mane, and she has accepted this, trusting that you, will protect her cubs, like she would in the wild"

Tellana nodded and looked down at the cub who was looking at her with a curious look. She smiled and picked up the cub, putting a hand below his belly and buttom, pressing him against her chest. She walked out of the stable, slightly petting the kitten, as she walked towards the barracks.

Tellana smiled as she looked down into the big yellow eyes of the cub in her hands. This was the day she made her bond to the her Nightsaber, this was the happiest day in her entire time.

 **And here we end chapter 1 of Tellana Ravenfire's story. Read and review, tell me what you liked, disliked and what should be improved/removed. Also, what should I call this Nightsaber? I got a few names on my mind but I'd like to hear your ideas aswell.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone, Gulefritz here with another chapter of "Story of Tellana Ravenfire"**

 **In this chapter we will hear more about the relationship between huntress and Nightsaber, but also be introduced to people who are essential in the later parts of the story.**

 **Hope you will like it.**

A month had passed since Tellana had been given her nightsaber kitten, a month filled with a lot of trouble and a lot of new scratches.

In the month that passed, her kitten went from the size of what the humans call a regular house cat, to that of a lion cub. She was struggling to carry him around, but she managed to do it, a part of her physical training she thought and laughed every time she thought about it.

She had been told by her new commander, huntress Filenya, that she must act like these cubs' mothers would out in the wild. She had done the best in her power to fill in that role for her kitten.

She had bathed him, which had resulted in her receiving a lot of scratches and a bite mark from a very wet and angry cub. She realized she needed leather gauntlets next time she gave him a bath, or else she would see more scratches and bruises on her arms, not that she minded, it was all part of the job.  
She had feed him, not food she could buy in Astranaar, but food she caught herself, using her own bow and arrows, killing the prey of the area and giving him small pieces of meat to eat. Though it did not work initially, as she had not realized the cub had not properly grown his teeth yet at which point she was forced to give him milk from Astranaar. It worked and she used the milk for about a week, until the cub started eating meet, at which she soon figured that he had a great liking to the Ashenvale deer.

Tellana had also trained the cub in the month that passed. She knew that she had to find a way to communicate with the cub. A way for her to tell him what to do, where to go and come to her aid, whenever she called for him. She knew that many huntresses had decided to name their nightsabers, which had made the cats react to their given names.

She had decided to name him Ash'ralah. Part of it because it reminded her of the wood where she got him, Ashenvale, but also because it was the name of the giant cat, that the human hunter had caught, killed and skinned. The old cat was a legend amongst the Kal'dorei in Ashenvale, and his passing was a great sadness to them, especially knowing he did not go out peacefully.

The cub had initially not reacted to being called Ash'ralah, but Tellana was determined and decided to teach him herself. She said Ash'ralah when next to him and whenever he reacted, she gave him a piece of meat. When he did not react, she took some water and poured it on him, which serious angered the cub, which did make him attack her once.

But it did the trick. Whenever she called out his name, the small cub would react and run to her. She grinned whenever she saw him running towards her, knowing she had managed to teach him something.

Right now, she was sitting on a bench in Silverwind Refuge with the cub on her lap. She was petting his fur, making the saber cat purr rather loudly, louder than she had expected. She smiled down at him, but quickly retracted her fingers when he tried to bite her fingers, her fast reflexes made sure he did not bite her, but his claws still managed to do some damage.

"Seems someone is hungry" She said and picked him up by the neck, putting one hand at the neck and the other hand on his bottom, supporting the saber cat. Tellana knew that she had recently run out of Ashenvale deer, and she knew that both she and the cat needed some exercise, so she decided to walk out into the forest, putting the cub on the ground, motioning him to follow her.

She had been working to make him follow her without saying much. She had been told that she should make him familiar to her scent, so he always knew where she was. She had given the small saber cat a lunar necklace around the neck, mostly to show that this saber was owned by Kal'dorei, but also so he had something that smelled of her, on his body. Initially he had disliked the necklace, but with time he grew accustomed to it, as he only had to use it whenever they were outside in the forest.

So far, the method worked, the small saber cat followed her around, following her scent. The two of them walked into the woods, searching for a prey for the two hunters of the woods to catch, and soon enough they found their first prey.

A deer was getting water at the river leading into Azshara. It was a lone elder one even. She pressed herself, and the cub down against the forest floor and prepared to hunt the deer. She raised her bow and fired her arrow.

But the moment her arrow hit, something weird happened. The moment her arrow hit the beast, another arrow hit the deer from another angle. Tellana scanned the area and immediately she saw the source of the arrow.

A human ranger, wearing mail armor with a color she had never seen before, a blue tabard with a golden lion, not the anchor the people of Theramore used to wear on their chest. She inspected him further and concluded he was rather young for a human, the man looking rather young and had no beard at all. She watched as the young ranger inspected the deer, curious about where the second arrow was fired from.

He was soon to figure out who fired the arrow. He had decided to walk over to the deer, to inspect the other arrow.

Like a predator, Tellana rushed forward, with her dagger in hand, and almost pounced on the now dead deer, looking in the direction of the human ranger, who was shocked from the sight and tripped from the shock, falling on his rear on the ground. He soon gathered his thoughts, knowing very well he was on Kal'dorei lands.

He spoke first.

"That was unexpected"

He slowly got up and walked towards the elf, but immediately walked back as she lunged out at him with her dagger, like a huntress intending to feed her child, Tellana defended the kill, intending to feed her kitten.

The human raised his hands at her, trying to make her calm down. "Relax, we are on the same side here, there is enough food for the both of us here" He spoke to her in common. A mistake, as Tellana did not know common, which the human did not know.

Tellana kept looking at the human with a suspicious but also confused look, oblivious to what he is saying. She looked behind, trying to see if she could see Ash'ralah. She soon found the cub, and noticed he was staring at the situation, suddenly his gaze went north, away from her.

Tellana followed his gaze, and as if on que, another human arrived. This human was armed in full plate armor and had the Theramore anchor on his chest. On closer inspection, Tellana could see that the man had a black beard.

"What is taking you so long Derik, you were supposed to bring the forage back to the camp an hour ago!"

The ranger immediately turned to the knight, pointing in Tellana's direction.

"I just shot this deer, but this Kal'dorei shot it as well. She is rather hostile, and she does not know common"

The elder human looked at Tellana, realizing the situation they were in. The human was a veteran from the battle of mount Hyjal and he had heard the tales about the huntresses. He scanned the area and after some time, he spotted a small pair of yellow eyes in the distance, seeing the small kitten in the distance.

He looked to Tellana and shocked both her and ranger, by speaking in elvish.

" _My apology Huntress, we do not mean to stand between you and feeding your nightsaber cub, but me and my men need the meat from this deer, as our own supplies were lost on our way here"_

Tellana stared at the human, raising her eyebrow and stood up, putting her weapon away. She inspected him further, before speaking.

" _How do you know my language? And how do you know I have a nightsaber cub to feed?"_

The human laughed, which put the ranger at ease. The young human had no idea what where discussed, but when his captain laughed, then things were okay, most of the time.

" _I know your language, because I fought with your kind in the past and have read parts of your history and culture. I read about the huntresses and when I spotted the cub in the distance, I put the pieces together"_

The human pointed in the distance and the ranger followed the hand, which made the ranger spot the small nightsaber in the distance. Tellana cursed, which made the knight laugh again.

" _Why don't you tell your cub to come here? Derik will bring the deer to our camp and we will discuss further. Do not worry, we will share in the meat evenly. You and your cub will be feed from this kill"_

Tellana looked at the human skeptically. The knight motioned Derik to move the deer, which the young man did, with some struggle of course, the deer being quite heavy. She watched and reluctantly she nodded at the human. She then called out to the her nightsaber.

" _Ash'ralah!"_

The small cub heard his name called by the elf he knew and came out of his hiding spot. The knight watched as the small cub walked down to the elf, looking up at her and focusing on her, not the things around him, like a cub focusing on his mother. He watched as she went to pick up the small cub and nodded at the human.

" _it is only fair, both of us shot the arrow, we will split the meet at your camp"_

The knight nodded and spoke again.

" _Good, now let's get properly introduced. My name is Sir Richard, I am a Knight of Theramore Isle and leading these men on our march to Silverwind Refuge"_

Tellana nodded, looking at him suspiciously again. She had not heard of any humans arriving, nor could she figure out why, normally they were busy clearing Dustwallow Marsh of ogre's or whatever hunted them.

" _I am Tellana Ravenfire, this is my nightsaber, Ash'ralah. We will discuss further, when we reach your camp"_

To this Richard nodded and turned around, walking towards his camp leading elf and cat to where he and his men had decided to put camp for the night. They followed the river, before they reached a small hill. On this hill, the humans had set up pikes, tents and a campfire in the middle.

The camp consisted of around seven men, two rangers, the one from before, Derik, and another one, a woman, armed in chainmail armor, like her counter-part, but she used a crossbow instead of a longbow. Right now, she was helping Derik preparing the deer, cutting meat of the animal.

Tellana looked around and she spotted a human who was not armed with metal, but cloth instead. He was looking like on of their priestess's, but his robes were black and white, instead of the silver of Elune's priestess. He had a long staff in one hand and a libram in the other.

The remaining men were heavily armed swordsmen, like Richard. The only difference between them would be their helmets, Richard had a blue tail like thing on top, while the others had nothing.

Richard and Tellana entered the camp, which immediately caught the attention of the remaining humans in the camp. Only Richard had seen a night elf and a nightsaber before. The cub looked around at the different humans as they entered the camp, staring at the female ranger as she waved at the small cub.

"What are you all looking at? Get back to work"

Richard spoke out to the men, who immediately turned around and walked back to whatever they did before. The two of them sat down on the ground by the campfire, soon joined by the priest.

"I see we have got company Richard. Who is this, if I may ask?"

The priest motioned towards Tellana and Ash'ralah, the cub looking at the priest, himself finding resemblance in the priest and those of Elune, an instinct told him to look at the priest.

"I sure did Inigo. This is Tellana Ravenfire, a kal'dorei huntress, and the cat is Ash'ralah, a nightsaber. She is training the cat and if stories are true, have a bond with him, like a mother and cub usually shares"

The priest nodded and sat down at the campfire, still looking at Tellana and the nightsaber. Ash'ralah moved around, signaling he did not want to be held anymore. Tellana looked down and decided to place the small cub on the ground. The small cub walked over to the priest and inspected him, not sure why he was different from the priestesses of Elune.

Inigo looked at the small kitten, not knowing what to do. He looked to Richard who was just as confused as the priest. The cub put his head to the priest's thigh, at which Richard laughed. Richard looked over to Tellana.

" _Your friend looks like one of our priestesses. Nightsabers are children of Asha'mane and has been blessed by Elune, mother moon, and therefore he finds interest in your friend, as he naturally is friendly to one of her priestesses. Tell him to pet him"_

Richard looked at her with a suspicious look, well knowing that the cub was big enough to bite off several fingers and do a lot of damage to an unexpecting hand but decided to listen to Tellana and turned to the priest.

"Pet the kitten"

The priest raised his eyebrow before looking down at the kitten. He reluctantly put his hand on the top of the cub's head, rubbing it like he would do to a normal house cat. The cub reacted by purring, rubbing his head against the human's hand.

"He acts like a kitten"

Richard turns to Tellana, who is focused on the nightsaber, making sure the cub is well before looking at the human.

" _We have been sent from Theramore because we believe that soon enough there will be hostility between the Kal'dorei and The Orcish Horde. We are on our way to Silverwind Refuge, where we were told to bring our report to a lady called, Filenya. As common members of the Alliance, we have been sent to report and eventually, aid in the defense of your land"_

Tellana nodded at the human, listening to his words. If they were true, then it meant that ruin was coming for the Kal'dorei. It ment that she and Ash'ralah would have to face the same enemy, that had cut down Ashenvale Forest years prior, and killed Cenarius.

" _How certain are you, that it will come to hostility between us and the orcs?"_

Richard sighed, which made Inigo look in their direction, momentarily loosing focus on the cub, which resulted in the cub clawing his hand, which brought his attention back to the nightsaber.

" _Nothing is certain, but all we know is that the Orcish Horde has expanded their settlements in the Great Barrens and the Warsong Clan has been moving from Durotar to the border between Ashenvale and the Barrens. We have even heard rumors they reopened the Warsong Lumber camp to the east"_

Tellana nodded, deciding not to comment it further. At this moment the ranger Derik came to the campfire and looked at Richard, deer blood still fresh on his hands.

"We have partitioned the deer and prepared it for cooking. What parts shall I give to our friend here?"

Richard looked at Tellana, then down to the nightsaber cub, before looking back at Derik.

"The parts with most meat is to be given to the elf"

Derik nodded and turned back to the deer, the ranger soon getting to work, finding the pieces to be given to the elf. The ranger returns, with his companion. The two of them would start cooking, after handing over the meat to the elf.

Derik hands over a sack filled with deer meat to the Night elf before turning back to the fire, starting to prepare to cook the meat. Richard looks at Tellana.

" _As promised, we will make sure you and your cub are feed from our common kill. We will be cooking the deer at this bonfire, you are free to join us"_

Tellana smiled at the human and nodded. She handed him her part of the meat, the portion she intended to eat herself, notably smaller than the cub's portion. Richard nodded and handed it over to Derik, who started to cook immediately.

" _Ash'ralah"_

The small cub looked at her instead of the priest and walked over to the elf. She scratched him behind the ear, before opening the bag, taking out one of the remaining pieces of meat, handing it over to the cub.

The cub seemed to be hungrier than she expected. The small cub immediately pounces on the meat, licking the meat at first, before biting the meat into smaller pieces, before eating the smaller pieces.

Tellana watched as the cub ate the meet and watched as the ranger woman looked at the nightsaber, clearly never seen such an animal before. She grinned before looking back to the nightsaber, giving him more meat as he quickly ate the first piece, she handed him.

" _He sure is a hungry one. With such an appetite he will grow into a big saber I imagine"_

Tellana agreed with the human, looking over at him.

" _Ash'ralah is a descendant of Asha'mane, the Nightsaber ancient. He will grow to a size bigger than two of your horses. I am from Silverwind Refuge, and I can bring you there tomorrow morning"_

Richard nodded one more time, smiling at her.

" _That would be appreciated, we lost our maps of the region on our way here"_

Derik spoke up for the group to hear, making all of them, Tellana included, look at him.

"Well, dinner is ready. I hope you all like roasted deer. Used some wild herbs and some from Theramore to make it taste better"

"Thank the light that you know your herbs, Derik. Now, let's eat"

And so, the evening went on, with the humans sharing stories with Tellana, and Tellana in return explaining Kal'dorei tales, like who Asha'mane and Elune is, with Richard working as a translater both ways. The group soon seemed to make a bond, enjoying each other's company. The female ranger even scratched Ash'ralah behind the ear, which the cub liked.

Hours passed, and the moon rose. Most of the humans went to bed, except for Richard. He had decided to take the first watch and Tellana joined him for now. Ash'ralah had walked over to the female ranger, who Tellana would learn was called Elisabeth, and had decided to lie on her stomach this night, sleeping on top of the ranger, something she did not seem to mind.

This was the night, Tellana formed a friendship with people who would essentially be crucial for her and her nightsaber's survival in the future.

 **Read and review, tell me what you liked/disliked.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone who is reading this.**

 **I, the author, am bringing you the third chapter of this story. I hope you will like it, as I liked writing it.**

 **Read, review and tell me what you thought about this, if you want to of course.**

In the days that followed the meeting with Sir Richard, Tellana showed him and his men the way to Silverwind Refugee. It took most of the day and parts of the night, to reach the place. The humans, she noticed, slowed them down, due to their heavy armor.

Richard handed his rapport to Filenya who immediately took it with her. She read it and had more copies made, one sent to Feralas Stronghold, to Shandris Feathermoon, leader of the Sentinels, while the other was sent to Darnassus, to Tyrande Whisperwind, leader of the Kal'dorei and Priest of Elune.

The Kal'dorei were quick to respond to these letters, to these assumed threats at their borders. Tyrande send out scouting parties throughout Ashenvale, parties originally used to hunt Satyr's and demons. They had to stop their search, as they were sent to the Warsong Lumbercamp.

Upon reaching the camp, the rumors the humans brought turned out to be true. In their campaign against the remnants of Xavius's minions, had the Warsong clan rebuild and fortified their former stronghold known as the Warsong Lumbercamp, the place where Grom Hellscream lead his first attacks against the Kal'dorei people.

Upon hearing of this did the sentinels immediately respond. Silverwind Sentinels were sent to the border between the Great Barrens and Ashenvale, in order to blockade any traveler from outside the Alliance entry to the great forest, while contingents of Sentinels and Huntresses and a few druids of the claws were sent to the old lumber camp, joined by a few ancient protectors aswell.

The orcs retaliated by setting up patrols into the forest and build up a few sentry towers and outposts within the forest as well. Tensions were building up between the two sides, but when the orcs started to cut down trees, like they did when they first came, did the Kal'dorei put their foot down, and it was put down hard.

One day four peons worked to cut down a tree over the river separating the camp from the forest itself, but not a single one returned to their camps. The orcs send out a squad of grunts and a few Darkspear hunters, only for this group to return, smaller than when it was sent and most of them filled with arrows.

The Kal'dorei send the four peons back to the Warsong clan, but not alive. The peons had been sent into the forest with a kodo, they were all tied to it, all dead. All four of them had died to arrow wounds.

This incident sparked even more skirmishes between the two sides. At times, the orcs would march into the forest, plunder a settlement or destroy and outpost, then return to their lands with the sentinels on their tail, at other times they tried to build up their fortifications, only for the sentinels to send their ancients to throw boulders, or had set up glaive throwers to stop the workers.

Without an official start, war had started between the Kal'dorei and Warsong Clan and with it, a war between the Alliance and the Horde.

Theramore, although a human kingdom, had decided to stay neutral in this conflict. They tried to reason with the two sides, trying to bring them to the table to negotiate, but nothing worked. The drums of war had returned to Kalimdor.

In the months the conflict escalated into open war, had Tellana been busy training Ash'ralah in the struggle to come. The cub had in these months grown considerably, still just a cub, but a rather large one. His fangs had started to grow and soon enough she thought, this nightsaber would be bigger than her. At full length, Tellana was still a head or two taller than the saber cat.

She had trained him to be able to take down his own kill. Incase she was wounded, would he need to be able to fend for himself but also protect his fallen companion. She had set up traps for smaller animals, deer and spiders, for which the nightsaber could pounce and eventually hunt. Though struggling with spiders, as he did not know where to strike to end it quickly, the saber proved to be a natural at hunting deer.

One day, the nightsaber had walked off, without Tellana noticing. Worried the elf stormed out into the wilds, fearing what might happen to her big cat, only to find him walking back to Silverwind Refugee, dragging a deer with him. He had downed a kill and was now bringing it home. She was both proud but also annoyed at the saber, something the cat was oblivious to of course.

It is during this time, that Filenya has been ordered to move to the Warsong Lumber camp. Tellana sighed as she sat down and petted Ash'ralah. Their training was not over, but they had been sent to the front. The orcish raids and actions proved to be too much for the sentinels to stop. The forces at the border had also launched attacks into the barrens, at which orcs from Durotar and The Barrens came and stopped the raids, as they were supported by their troll and Tauren allies.

But reinforcements had also arrived for the Kal'dorei.

High-Lord Bolvar Fordragon had, on the suggestions of Lady Prestor, send soldiers to Darkshore. These soldiers consisted of human soldiers in full steel armor and a few knights. King Magni Bronzebeard of Ironforge had also send a contingent of Dwarven riflemen to the area.

Also, some people from Theramore did not like that Lady Proudmore had decided for neutrality, so they decided to go as volunteers to the human forces in Ashenvale. One of these volunteers were Sir Richard, Father Inigo and the two rangers, Derik and Elisabeth.

Tellana was happy to see the four humans again, though she did not show nor tell them. Elisabeth looked at Ash'ralah and she gasped when she saw the size of the saber cat, barely believing it to be the same cat. The rest of the humans, save for Richard, doubted that the cat had grown so much in a matter of months, at which Richard laughed at them.

"I told you he had quite the appetite. He will be bigger than two of our horses in no times!"

The huntresses, human volunteers and five dwarven riflemen went on the march from Silverwind Refugee to the Lumber camp in the middle of the night. A full moon was up and the huntresses had to put leashes on their sabers, else they could not find them. The humans and dwarves looked amazed at the scene, barely believing their eyes.

" _Mother moon blessed the Nightsaber's fur in times past. When her light shines, will she hide the nightsaber from predator and friend alike, allowing the cat for peace during this time"_

Richard nodded at Tellana as she explained before turning around, explaining what she told him to his men and the dwarves.

In two days, they reached the camp, and it was quite the sight that waited them.

Ranks upon ranks of sentinels were marching, aiming their bows and pretending to fire in one single motion, as one single unit.

Huntresses were riding around on their giant saber cats, firing their arrows from their backs with impressive accuracy, before letting the cat itself leap at the imaginary enemy, working as a pair.

Druids of the claw were sitting in a circle, meditating over what were going to happen, but also healed the wounds of some of the sentinels and druids who had been unlucky to find the end of an axe or spear from the orcs or trolls.

But a contingent of humans had also arrived and set up camp. They had set up a fortified camp, with wooden walls and tents, while the elves had decided to use the nearby buildings as their camp.

The huntresses were put in the elven camp, while the others were put in the human camp, dwarves included.

They were all told to rest early, as the next day things would be set into motion and hopefully, the orcs would be driven from Ashenvale, or at the very least, taught not to mess with the children of Elune and their allies.

The following night Tellana meet with Richard, the priest and the rangers, as well as a dwarf. This dwarf was armed with a giant Warhammer and mithril armor. The humans and dwarf looked with awe at the size of the nightsaber before them.

Ash'ralah almost immediately recognized the humans, recognizing their smells. The saber cat walked over to the priest and rubbed his head against his thigh, like he did as a smaller cub. The human could not help but laugh and put his hand against the cat's head and petted it, giving him a scratch behind the ear, which made the nightsaber purr softly.

Inigo smiled, as he looked over at Tellana. He looks at Richard, motioning him to translate for her.

"He has grown a lot since last we meet. What have you been feeding him?"

Tellana laughed at this, she too impressed at her cat's size. She spoke a few words, before Richard translated.

"She says she mostly feed him Ashenvale deer, though he has started to hunt regularly himself"

This made me the priest retract his hand, which made the nightsaber look up at him and growl, believing it to be an attack, as the motion was sudden. Tellana acted quick and made a whistle, which made the nightsaber go over to her and focus on her solely.

She spoke fast again with anger in her voice. Richard once more translated.

"You should never mistrust him and never move your hand quickly around him. He sees a fast-moving hand as a threat to him or Tellana. You are lucky, if she were not around, he would have leapt at you"

The priest nodded and looked over at the nightsaber, who for a moment looked at him with a slight hostile behavior, before a friendly behavior came to be, almost reminding him of how he acted as a smaller cub.

With time the sun set, and the moon rose high in the sky. This night was a full moon, something Tellana and Richard knew. The elf noticed the human kept looking at Ash'ralah from time to time. She smiled, she knew what he was thinking.

The group shared sat around a campfire inside the human camp.

Tellana sat on the ground with the nightsaber right next to her, with his head on her lap. Many of the humans in the camp looked worried at the nightsaber, but slowly came to accept his presence, mostly to not scare the big cat.

Tellana saw as the dwarf also kept looking at the big cat. The dwarf noticed this and quickly tried to excuse himself, speaking in a broken common. Richard translated.

" _He says it is a big cat you got there. Do you reckon how big he will be?"_

Tellana explained to the dwarf, through Richard, that Ash'ralah was poised to be one of the biggest cats the sentinels would see, if he kept growing this much. Bigger than the two horses she told the humans months ago. The dwarf had another question, which sparked her curiosity.

" _I've heard tales that these nightsabers are almost invisible in the moonlight. Is this true?"_

Tellana smiled at the dwarf and nodded. The dwarf immediately looked over at nightsaber then back to the elf confused. Tellana sighed and stood up and grabbed a piece of meat from one of her bags. The nightsaber stood up and followed the piece of meat. Tellana left the camp and motioned the others to follow her. They did.

Once outside the camp, Tellana threw the piece of meat into the black night. The only light came from the moonlight. The group kept looking at the nightsaber and soon enough the giant cat disappeared.

The humans spotted the meat on the ground, but soon enough it vanished. They watched where the meat was and soon enough, all they could see were two yellow-green eyes looking in their direction, before moving in their direction.

The humans and dwarf stared at the sight, their jaws dropped from the sight. Both Richard and the dwarf had known that nightsabers could do this, but never seen it. the rangers on the other hand had no idea and were mind blown from the sight.

"Did anyone else see that giant cat disap-appear?"

"Sure did Derik… Happy we are not hunting them"

With that comment Tellana looked the source of the voice, the female ranger, and glared at her. The memory of the human hunter who killed a nightsaber was still fresh in her mind. She clenched her fists and her hand landed on her dagger. The woman saw this and looked at her terrified.

Richard, the dwarf, and Inigio were quick to intervene, standing between Elisabeth and Tellana. Inigo and Richard looked at the ranger, while the dwarf looked at Tellana. He smiled at her before looking to the forest, where he could hear branches breaking, and soon enough, the nightsaber was visible, as the light from the camp illuminated the giant cat.

The dwarf spoke, and shocked Tellana again. He spoke elvish, with a dwarvish accent.

" _I don believe we've been proper introduced lad! Me name is Daelin Ironfist, Rifleman from Dun Morogh. I know your language as I am a part of the Explorer league. This is my second time here in Ashenvale"_

She looked at him suspiciously before nodding. Richard had turned back to them as the dwarf spoke elvish, grinning as he heard him speak. He looked to Tellana.

" _Can we get an explanation?"_

The dwarf nodded aswell. Tellana sighed and put her hand down on Ash'ralah's head, petting the big cat, which made him purr softly.

" _Some time ago I killed a human hunter. This despicable man had come, claiming to be an explorer. We gave him the benefit of the doubt as he was in full Theramore regalia, and we honor Theramore for fighting with us on Mount Hyjal"_

A pause ensued as Tellana pointed at the tall mountain, its peak barely visible from where they stood, but they got the message.

" _The hunter soon vanished and hunted the local wildlife. We found him after four days, to find he had hunted two deer, one spider, a few birds and one... Nightsaber"_

Human and dwarf looked at each other, before looking at Ash'ralah. They had put the pieces together. Daelin looked back at Tellana, curious for more.

" _Wha happened to the hunter?"_

Fury returned to Tellana's eyes and she looked at the dwarf, glaring at him briefly before returning to a more calm state.

" _I found him and I were ready to kill him, but I never claimed the kill. You see, when Nightsaber find a mate, they mate for life. The hunter became the prey in the end. The mate of the nightsaber eventually found him and killed him."_

Richard and Daelin nodded and listened in, as Tellana explained further.

" _Unfortunatelty, the mate was too old to hunt alone. Soon she was reduced to nothing but fur and bones. When that monster killed the nightsaber, did he also take with him, its mate. I gave her a nice funeral days after she killed her mate's murderer"_

The two once more nodded. Before more words were spoken, did Elisabeth move out from the ground, around Daelin and Richard and looked at Tellana with a sorry look on her face.

"I am sorry if I offended you Tellana, or your Nightsaber. I didn't know what I said, and I wish to apologise"

Richard translated and Tellana nodded at her, not giving her a reply. Richard on the other hand did, as he explained the situation to the humans. All of them nodded before looking over at the Nightsaber, who was still being petted by the elf.

After this the group split up. Tellana returned to her camp, with Ash'ralah following her, while the humans and dwarf returned to their own camp. The two groups decided to get some sleep, well knowing what was going to happen the next day.

She put Ash'ralah where most of the other nightsabers were kept, at a stable. She walked to the part where the Ash'ralahs brother and sisters where. The big cats did not make much of a bond, but there were still something binding them all together. She grinned as she watched him play with his brother, like they did when they were just a few weeks old.

Tellana returned to where the huntress's slept. Most of the others had already gone to bed, with the exception of a few who were either praying, preparing their weapons or simply chatting. She said goodnight to all of them before stripping off her armor and lied down on the mattress, with a blanket on top.

Little did she know, tomorrow would be a taxing day.

 **With that I end chapter 3 of this story. I wont work on the fourth chapter before the 17 th of December, as I am now entering an examn period. Wish me luck.**

 **Read, review and tell me what you thought about this.**


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